Unfortunately, King County officials are a primary cause of Seattle’s homelessness problems and deaths. At least that was my conclusion after hearing the remarks (and having read the Audit) of nationally renowned auditor Marie McDonnell at the Seattle Mortgage Economic Reality (MERS) Summit at the Bethany Church last Sunday. King County’s land records have become corrupted as a result of the King County Sheriff and Prosecutor Office refusing to enforce Washington’s criminal laws against banks and hedge fund entities like Nationstar and Berkshire Hathaway. We, the people, need to do something about these public officials refusing to enforce the law against the wealthy 1%.We need to make Sheriffs and Prosecutors aware that we are watching them betray the public interest. Further, that we intend to hold them accountable for their betrayal of the people at the polls in 2016. So why does King County have land records and a recorder of deeds? Wikipedia explains the answer very simply: The legal certainty provided by a title deed issued under the registration of the recorder of deeds is of great significance to all parties who hold, or wish to acquire rights in real property. Certainty of title is the basis for the investment of massive amounts of money in real estate development for residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural use each year. This is why the meticulous recording of registration information by the recorder of deeds is so important. Each document recorded against title to real estate can be examined and the portion of the bundle of rights that it includes … Continue Reading

I am grateful to be a part of a spiritual movement designed to take our country back from the stomach of the empire which has swallowed it. It is not always easy practicing law while fighting off the empire. You have to take your lumps. But difficulties are often the source of new beginnings. Certainly, this is not how I envisioned spending my sixties when I was in my twenties. The Vietnam War began in November, 1955 and ended twenty years later in 1975. It was the last real war in the sense that American youth were conscripted from the general population and made to fight in a war that many of us believed should not have been fought. (Now the empire employs mercenaries to fight its endless wars having figured out that the people would not tolerate their children coming home in coffins unless they were paid to put their young lives in danger.) I was 20 in 1970 studying in London when I wrote “The Nakedness of Love”. I found the poem recently when I rummaged through boxes of my past. Although the poem is somewhat dated with regard to sexuality issues that are now being resolved, the third scene dealing with our government and politics still rings true. Scene 3: Act 1: Ashes are only ashes; Day is only day. Darkness always comes. It does no good to pray. The curtains will only open, they will never close. Man will become naked and refute all he knows. On … Continue Reading

News article after news article, television reporters, and even the (see no evil) Seattle Times have reported recently that homelessness in Seattle is a full scale emergency. How did this happen? In 2012 it seemed Seattle’s city council really wanted to find out. The Seattle City Council solicited bids from land title experts to determine what was going on. After a careful vetting process the Seattle city council hired a nationally renowned land records expert with taxpayer dollars to find out. The taxpayer paid expert concluded that many of Seattle’s foreclosures were void as a result of corrupt corporations being allowed to record assignments containing false statements by King County officials who routinely failed to follow Washington’s recording and criminal statutes. But, of course, government officials implicated in creating the problem did not want to hear this or have anyone else learn of the expert’s conclusions. So what did the embarrassed public officials do? They had one of their own demand the land title expert sign a confidentiality agreement to prevent her conclusions from ever seeing the light of day. But the land expert refused to sign the confidentiality agreement. The expert knew the conclusions in her report were accurate. The expert wouldn’t sign any agreement that allowed the City to bury her report and not consider its forthright and honest conclusions. Meanwhile the City was getting zinged with public disclosure requests demanding the Seattle City Council release the report. So the City reluctantly released the report including the City’s own nonsensical 3 … Continue Reading

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Spiritual Synchronicity Grows Well in the Soil of Tyranny… History demonstrates seeds of hope can grow robustly in the soil of tyranny because oppression leads us to crave light and liberation. I am not the leader or founder of Church of the Gardens (COG). COG is a growing movement of spiritual people called together to pursue an imperative mission. My observation is COG grows through spiritual synchronicity and the free exercise of faith. COG is presently a small movement of conscience. It will need members to grow into a groundswell politicians and judges will take into account. Rising to the needs of the day together we can be the change we seek. I want to thank John Wright of the Piggybank blog for the work he has put into this production. I am proud to have been involved in COG’s formation. I am also proud to be the advocate for the Church, its members, and those persons COG was created to help and protect. COG has no single spiritual leader; as a spiritual movement it personifies the natural inclusiveness of a garden. Gardens are composed of many different types of creations, together making up a whole greater than their sum. Through complementarity we embrace a fresh approach. COG seeks to establish community with other faith-based organizations to network the distribution of hope, food, faith and good will. Please join COG.

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Stafne Trumbull is ending… I am deeply grateful to each person who created the Stafne Trumbull law firm. By law firm standards, Stafne Trumbull died in its infancy. A young David fighting against the Goliaths of the twenty first century american empire. The firm’s success was remarkable; Its ending was inevitable. Writing blogs through sentiment is not as easy as creating those fueled by philosophy, reason, or anger. So I was lucky that Ethan, who is helping set up Stafne Law Firm’s new computer systems, came into my office and recited the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leafs a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. The words rolled out Ethan’s mouth much quicker than I could understand them. He said the poem was written by Robert Frost. So I googled “Roberts Frost Nature’s first green” and found this article. Serendipity, through Ethan, had guided me to the very words I needed to express. Thank you Josh, Shaina, Emily, Matt, LeeAnn, Ashley, Brian, Linda, Karrie, Stephanie, Ryan, Mitch, and Michael for your efforts in helping Stafne Trumbull make a difference in the lives of many of our neighbors. May each of you and your loved ones prosper. Here’s to the memories…

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Hedge Fund Creeps Courts allow Hedge Fund Creeps (HFC), like Mr. Shreli, to blackmail our neighbors and family into paying exorbitant amounts of money for medicine they need to to live. While those of us injured by such market place anarchy, see good reason to limit such sociopathic behavior, the Roberts Court continues to find a constitutional right for HFCs to pick the flesh off the bones of those people who actually served their country. No, I don’t mean the Roberts Court has gone out of its way to protect young punk HFC pharmaceutical guru Shkreli. Our present day justices appear to manipulate their constitutional jurisprudence to benefit much bigger and more heinous fish, like the Kochs and those hedge fund creeps (spelled Berkshire Hathaway) who are buying up mortgages on people’s home for pennies on the dollar. According to Robert’s Court growing body of precedent the extraordinarily wealthy have every right to use their money to to buy a government which will legislate their right to take more money from us. The Robert court’s new Constitutional matra: “The wealthy are free make more money; and the rest of are free to be destitute, indentured, and abused by the rich.” Present day courts give real meaning to the song, Me and Bobbie McGee. “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose…” In other words, to the 1% (and the government which serves them) we, the people, are “free” because we have the right to buy from our medicine and/or food and/or shelter for whatever the cost might be. But this is … Continue Reading

Scott Stafne revisits his past and finds wisdom… Each memento comes with a soul weight that may overwhelm or be hidden from the moment in which it is revealed and recollected. The memories attached thereto are not only about me but the context of the society at that time… Sometimes we forget. It was as if I was being called to the boxes which stored my past. I really did not want to go there because my focus was on the present and how it could impact my future. But now that I am older I listen more to my callings. And so Saturday morning I opened the boxes and explored the various accumulations of a lifetime, including without limitation my birth certificate, draft card, poetry, plays, newspaper articles, and other mementos which had found their way into the boxes wedged into back of the pantry and the file boxes in my office. The first thing I noticed was that most of the papers were crinkled; some even appeared to have been snacked on. It is difficult to review mementos in the same way that I attack facts and documents when preparing to write a legal brief. Each memento comes with a soul weight that may overwhelm or be hidden from the moment in which it is revealed and recollected. The memories attached thereto are not only about me but the context of the society at that time. For example, on December 24, 2014 I wrote a blog entitled “Do we want police more devoted to one another … Continue Reading

Democrats role’ in the foreclosure crisis suggests neither major political party cares about the people. Did Democrat candidates keep their promises to act on behalf of the people and not the 1%? You be the judge. This is a campaign ad for Bob Ferguson, who is running for re-election as the Attorney General of Washington State. Ferguson is the guy with glasses standing in the middle of the group of four people, who look like homeowners. The promise just below this photograph states: “Bob will Protect Homeowners and Hold Banks Accountable”. Ferguson, like many Democrats empire wide, made the same claim last election cycle. He promised he would use his position as attorney general to protect homeowners. Did Democrat candidates keep their promises to act on behalf of the people? No. While Republican President George Bush bailed out the banks, it was Democratic President Barack Obama who followed up by allowing the banks to brazenly feast on people’s homes. It is the Democratic Party (the party which always claims to represent the interests of the people) which has been in charge of the greatest redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the rich in the history of the world. So after promising to help them protect their homes from banks, what did AG Ferguson do to fulfill that promise? Astonishingly, he brought foxes in to the hen house. AG Ferguson hired bank attorneys and paralegals to “protect consumers“. Was this an act of bad faith towards homeowners? In my judgment: YES. I frequently … Continue Reading

Do judges really think the people are stupid? I was telling opposing counsel that as the lawyer for a servicer successor to Countrywide she needed to make sure no acceleration notice had been issued with regard to the defaulted upon loan before my client’s mortgage was transferred to BOA on or about January 1, 2009. She asked why she needed to do that. I responded that under a recent case out of the federal district court Washington attorneys had an obligation under Rule 11 to verify the absence of limitations defenses. She said, she didn’t believe me. So I told her to hold on and brought up my WestLaw legal database. I was flabbergasted. Judge Peterson’s opinion sanctioning me for not anticipating a limitations defense in a complaint was not there. I immediately suspected the empire’s corrupt legal publishing system. I have previously written about my concern that the 1% who own everything (including the legal publishing industry) and/or the judicial department itself unfairly and corruptly influence the collection and reporting of legal decisions. On April 2, 2015 I complained about this in a blog entitled “Do private publishers of legal decisions attempt to influence precedent”. I pointed out that U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones of the Western District of Washington had authored a significant decision discrediting one of MERS legal theories. I told a representative of the private publisher, WestLaw, that I believed this decision should be available to homeowners and their attorneys. I even pointedly asked whether … Continue Reading

“Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.” Our founders intended something different than a government which protects only the wealthy. America’s Constitution contemplates that “we the people” are sovereign. Further, that those governmental officials who act pursuant to the power of the people will act to protect the natural rights of all people. Last Sunday I was one of two attorneys who appeared as guest on a segment of Gary Dubin’s the Foreclosure Hour on Iheartradio. The common link which united me with longtime lawyer William Butler was that we were both being threatened by agents of the empire for representing homeowners against banks and servicers in courts. Here is a link to promotional materials about the broadcasts, which were entitled “Our Independent Judiciary Is No Longer Independent: Ten Ways in which our Courts are Denying Homeowners the Ability to Adequately Present the Merits of their Foreclosure Defense Cases.” One way which the empire supports the 1%, which Bill and I were appearing on the show to demonstrate, is by marginalizing those advocates of the people who dare sue banks on behalf of ordinary people. Both Bill and I practiced law for most of our lives without the slightest hint of a problem. It was only when our sense of justice caused us to stray from representing personal injury victims to … Continue Reading

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Marie McDonnell speaks about Seattle’s Audit of King County land records and land records recording system on Hamilton Radio’s program Taking Back our Country, which aired yesterday. In her first radio interview following a hearing by the City of Seattle discussing her report, “City of Seattle Review of Mortgage Documents,” McDonnell discusses the history of land records, the concept of legal “title”, and the absolute necessity to preserve the integrity of such land records. McDonnell explains the basics, i.e. You can’t sell what you don’t have. It is only by evaluating the chain of title, which is supposed to be reflected in the public land records, that we can be assured that the entity purporting to be selling or taking real property has the right to do so. After demonstrating her unassailable expertise with regard to land records, and the purposes for them, McDonnell discusses her contract with the City of Seattle to review mortgage documents, the City’s attempts to influence the audit, and then to not have it released at all. Towards the end of the interview we learn that the City of Seattle after receiving several public disclosure requests to obtain the audit abruptly announced that it would hold a hearing on the Audit during the time the President of China was visiting and without asking McDonnell to attend to explain her conclusions. This, of course, was a slap in the face to Seattle taxpayers because the contract with McDonnell Analytics contemplated Marie McDonnell would present and explain her report to the Seattle … Continue Reading

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Just when the President of China visited Seattle and the Pope arrived in America the city of Seattle decided, at the last minute, to hold a hearing on Marie McDonnell’s long delay report entitled “City of Seattle Review of Mortgage Documents”, which the City paid McDonnell tax-payer funds to prepare. Seems to me the City didn’t want news regarding the study reported in the media. What do you think? You can watch the hearing discussing the audit by clicking here. Strange how its goes dead when a city auditor starts making mistakes. Tonight, Monday September 28, 2015, Kathleen McCarthy and I will talk about this on our show “Taking Back Our Country” on Hamilton Radio at 10:00 pm EST, 9:00 pm CST, 8:00 pm RMST, 7:00 pm PST and 1:00 pm HST. Tonight’s guest will be Marie McDonnell and the subject will be Seattle’s belatedly released “City of Seattle Review of Mortgage Documents”. The topics of our radio discussion will include: 1.) The Principles of Land Title, i.e. Chain of Title 2.) How MERS affects Chain of Title and destroys the integrity of Washington’s land title system 3.) Marie McDonnell’s experience with regard to auditing Seattle Land Records 4.) The reasons for Seattle’s delay in releasing Marie’s report until the day the President of China was scheduled to monopolize the new. 5.) What happened at the public hearing. You can watch most of the hearing (except those part the City apparently does not want you to hear, by clicking here.) 6.) … Continue Reading

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Those who despair of Citizens United release of unlimited moneys into our political system should also consider the impact money has on the Judicial Department. The Judicial Department was originally designed to perpetuate the exercise of judicial power by way of a trial before two types of constitutional officers: judges and juries. Seeking to take control control of the judicial branch of government judges rationalized away the the role of juries. Next they disparaged the role of trials; arguing that a trial indicated a failure of judges to adequately incentivize settlements. Now we appear to have devolved into the era of judicial “monarchy”, where judges do pretty much what they want. The degeneration of the american empire’s legal system has been accompanied by litigation models which rely on the disparity of resources between the parties (not the facts or law of any specific case) as the primary basis for resolving cases. It is my observation that the “Scorched Earth” litigation model, named after General Sherman’s infamous military campaign, is used in virtually 100% of all foreclosure litigation. This model is based on the business premise that banks and servicers should spend whatever money is necessary to win so as to deter homeowners (and any potential lawyers who might be inclined to represent them) from challenging any foreclosure judicially. I have personally seen this multi-billion dollar industry spend more in litigation costs than the worth of the houses they are foreclosing on. I have been told by servicers’ lawyers that their … Continue Reading

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On Gardening & Government, Part 5 The effort in knowing all the legal advocacy options can be greatly enhanced when you get front line insight from a seasoned foreclosure defense and family law attorney. Scott Stafne is a long time lawyer for the people who is in tune with gardening and the natural laws that support good government. Learn the difference between justice and paid advocacy, and what really happens in today’s court system from the experience and perspectives of Scott Stafne.

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Note: I was elected recently to the position of “Church Advocate” for the Church of the Gardens. It is a new church, which hopes to join with other churches, in growing spiritual resistance to rampant materialism and the vast economic disparity of wealth and resources between the peoples and nations of the world. Church of the Gardens is different than many churches in that part of its mission and faith requires its members to become engaged politically, socially, and economically to achieve its spiritual and religious goals. Church of the Gardens is a 508(c)(1)(a) “Free Church.” It is not a 501(c)(3) organization. WHEN POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS FAIL US… Many people, including at least one candidate for President, acknowledge that our government is not working for most of us. When we look around it is difficult not to notice that millions of people have lost their homes to the banking-servicing industry based on documents which are well known to have been fabricated. Students and former students owe the same banking industry colossal debt which Congress has declared is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Millions of our citizens (mostly black and hispanic) are incarcerated, working more or less as slaves, for private prisons which have contracts with State and municipal governments guaranteeing to keep their facilities stocked with prisoners. The disparity of wealth and resources between the 1% and the 99%, as well as between the industrialized nations and poor nations, is grotesquely disproportionate to the point of being unconscionable. So how can those of us … Continue Reading

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The 1% know the way to win cases in the american empire’s adversarial system of justice is to eliminate their opponent’s advocate. By doing so the 1% assure themselves that a judge will rely solely on the presentations of their well paid attorneys in resolving cases in their favor. There are numerous reasons America’s adversarial system is now dead for most of us. The primary one is the disparity of wealth between the 1% and the rest of us. For the most part only the wealthy can afford lawyers. And most lawyers (many of whom who have spent a fortune on their education and are struggling with large amounts of student debt) cannot afford or are not interested in representing clients who do not have the ability pay the exorbitant costs of litigation, along with lawyers’ sky high hourly fees. The courts have exacerbated the problem by requiring that only lawyers can appear before them as advocates. This judicially created monopoly, like all monopolies, starves competition and promotes only the interests who benefit when the people are not ably represented. The party line is that limiting advocacy only to lawyers, who have gone to law school or apprenticed for years, assures the competent representation essential for the adversary system to work. But there is little proof to back up this assertion. I know from my own experience as a lawyer that I have seen plenty of lay people who know more about specific areas of law than do most lawyers. … Continue Reading

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World governments have inappropriately licensed God’s resources to corporations who inappropriately charge the people for them. The governments are not serving the people; only the 1% and themselves. This is inconsistent with God’s natural law. On Gardening & Government, Video 3.

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Independence Day should not be celebrated because we, the people, are free. Most of us cannot afford to exercise our God given natural rights. Independence Day is notable because it reminds us that personal freedom remains a goal for humankind at the dawn of the twenty-first century; notwithstanding the efforts of our economic system to put a price on liberty. As we watch the fireworks which symbolize the Revolutionary War we should remember the Declaration of Independence did not announce an intent that all people in the colonies would be equal and free. Rather lives were sacrificed so those persons who would otherwise have control of the colonies, but for the King, could exercise governmental power as equals. Women and slaves were not considered equals in the Eighteenth Century. Before this nation’s Civil War, Frederick Douglass, a former slave, was asked to speak at an Independence Day celebration. Understandably, Douglass commented in 1852 that asking him to celebrate freedom while his own people were enslaved was “sacrilegious irony.” Douglass declared that to those who are not free this nation’s Independence Day celebrations “are a sham.” Today many concerned citizens feel the same way as Frederick Douglass. Our government tells us we are a free people, but only to the extent we can afford our liberties. Politicians claim to own and control God’s gifts to humankind for the purpose of enriching themselves and indebting us to those who by virtue of their wealth are truly free. We, the people of the … Continue Reading

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Gardening and Government, Part II A quick look into the forces that shaped the definition of natural rights in the days of the American Revolution. Appeal to heaven, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson’s recognition of the garden as a spiritual vehicle are used for illustration. The Founders of the United States Constitution along in their effort to write out enduring protections of the rights of the people, emerge as the visionaries whose organic document, The US Constitution, still lives today in Washington State’s Constitution. Scott Stafne, lawyer and gardener takes us through the journey of understanding the origins of our rights and how they are easily violated today.

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I drove to my office pretty early for a Saturday morning to do the Agenda 31 radio program from a comcast-internet connection, rather than the slower satellite connection at my home. It was not yet 8:00 am when I noticed I was following a 1957 Chevy Bel air into town. It turned left onto Olympic Avenue North, the main drag in Arlington, Washington. As I went to follow I noticed the barricade and sign that announced Arlington’s “Rain or Shine” classic car show. So instead of turning left I followed the roundabout to make a circle and turned right at the top. I travelled four blocks and turned right again, parking across the street from my office on Third Street. As I walked toward the Stafne Trumbull law firm and Olympic Avenue I recognised the excitement that frames the annual car show. People had set up chairs on the sidewalk outside our office and down the street so they could observe what was going on. I didn’t take much time to observe the event then as I wanted to some legal research about the “Guarantee Clause” before the show started. I enjoyed talking with Todd and Corey, the hosts of the Agenda 31 show. We talked about a wide range of topics. What I discovered from talking to these two articulate gentlemen, one in Davenport, Iowa and the other in Los Angeles, California, is just how deep the frustration is with America’s justice system. These well educated and prominent members … Continue Reading

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I went to an interesting “continuing legal education” seminar in Olympia, Washington a little more than two weeks ago. It was produced by “The Scrivener’s Quill, A Center for Lawyers and Literature”. It was called “Olympia and the Social Contract“. Michigan lawyer, Travis Marker, ably guided the attendees’ consideration and discussion about the “social compact” between a government and its citizens. I chose this particular seminar because after 66 years of life experience, most of which has been spent practicing law, I have doubts as to whether our government is sufficiently performing its part of the social compact to mandate my allegiance. The question is an important one to me as a lawyer because I have competing professional obligations to the sovereign; which means “the people”. Certainly, many benefits flow from a just society that attempts to preserve the rights of all through the creation of a social compact with its government. But just as surely the social compact which is intended to promote a just society is violated by a government, which claiming to act for all the people, acts for only the benefit of a few to the detriment of the many. The Scrivener’s Quill seminar reminded me that under the social compact theory of governance upon which our Constitution is based: the people are sovereign. The people only delegate their sovereignty to a government for the purposes of protecting each man’s natural rights. During the seminar Marker and the attendees discussed the writings of Rousseau, Hobbes, Mills, … Continue Reading

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The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves is an ancient one. Reports and discussions describing the history of Memorial day in the United States suggests it evolved during and after the Civil War. The practice of devoting a day for decorating soldiers’ graves appears to have begun in the South; and was later copied in the North. There was no common agreement with regard to what day the soldiers should be honored. The practice of honoring soldiers killed by their countrymen in the Civil War war was not given a specific name and day until May 5, 1868 when General John A. Logan issued a proclamation calling for “Decoration Day” to be observed annually and nationwide. The call for local communities in the South and North to agree upon a common day for decorating the graves of all soldiers who died in the Civil War asked people to look beyond the reasons why the soldiers had fought that war in order to commemorate their deaths. “Memorial Day” was first used as a synonym for “Decoration Day” in 1882. But “Decoration Day” was not changed to “Memorial Day” officially until 1967. Funny, that I do not recall the official name change. 1967 was the year I graduated from high school in Bettendorf, Iowa. The United States was in the midst of the Vietnam War. Maybe the reason I cannot remember is because we, the people, had already changed the name before the government got around to memorializing it. Did you know the … Continue Reading

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I bet Dottie is about as old in dog years as I am in human years. That’s comforting as I watch her run down the gravel road ahead of me. It was just a year or so ago when she was having trouble walking. The vet gave her pain pills and still she hobbled. And then suddenly, she was running again. Chasing chipmunks and deere. Its funny how life can be like that. Difficult, for a time. Then freeing. I have concluded Spring is my favorite season now, in my sixties. When I was younger I use to like summer best. I didn’t have to go to school. I loved shedding my clothes, basking in the sun and turning tan after my first sunburn. Summer was different for my generation. The ozone layer wasn’t gone and we weren’t taught the sun would give us skin cancer, and make us wrinkled when we got older. It was a different world. I am convinced that each person who lives a lifetime, not cut short, enters one world and leaves another awed by the differences. The reason I like Spring best now is because it is the season of beginnings. It is the season which shapes the rest of the year. I believe now is a good time to start reshaping our world. My partner and I, along with several friends, are planning and planting Wind and Water Gardens. Our goal is to feed many more people than ourselves. I want … Continue Reading

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A co-worker and friend, Michael Fasset, wrote the following article “How One Divorce Changed Washington’s Constitution”. Michael is not a lawyer, but in my mind he knows Washington’s constitution and UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) better than many judges. Michael’s study of divorce reinforces what I said in my last April 28, 2015 blog; namely, that our founders intended to prohibit “power of sale” clauses and prevent nonjudical foreclosures. Here’s a copy of Michael’s research: How One Divorce Changed Washington’s Constitution by Michael Fasset Introduction Legislatures are often viewed as nearly omnipotent. The power of state legislatures in America is frequently described by courts as plenary; which means unqualified or absolute. Washington State Farm Bureau Federation v. Gregoire, 162 Wn. 2d 284, 290, 174 P.3d 1142 (2007). Courts practice a policy of presuming legislation as constitutional unless proven otherwise “beyond a reasonable doubt”. Island County v. State, 135 Wn. 2d 141,955 P.2d 377 (1998). But once upon a time, the People reminded their elected representatives it is the People, alone, and not the legislature, whose power is absolute. Doc Gets Divorced David Swinson Maynard, universally known as Doc, was Seattle’s first doctor, second lawyer, and a justice of the peace. It was Doc who proposed the city be named Seattle, after his friend the Duwamish Chief Si’ahl (more commonly Seattle). He was settled on 640 acres (1 square mile) of land in King County which would become his, at least temporarily, under the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850. In other words, he was … Continue Reading

The United States Constitution is the Supreme law of the United States. Each of its fifty states also has its own constitution by which the government and officials of each state are governed. Under our traditions of government the meaning of the provisions of a constitution is determined by the judicial branch of government. Judges often interpret constitutional provisions differently. But most start their interpretation with the language of the constitution. I read an MSNBC article recently, which stated: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia took the stage at Southern Methodist University Monday night and argued the Constitution is “not a living document” and is “dead, dead, dead.” Justice Scalia discussed how children would visit the Supreme Court and refer to the Constitution as a “living document” but that the Constitution is, in fact, “dead.” A staunch conservative and “textualist,” Scalia believes the law must be taken literally and that the original meaning of the Constitution is the best way to interpret it. Regardless of whether one believes that a constitution is a “dead” document or “living organic law”, it is axiomatic that its interpretation must begin with the exact language of the constitution focused by the historical context in which it was written. Unfortunately, for us in the State of Washington judges appear not inclined to consider constitutional language or historical context when construing the nature and extent of judicial responsibilities. Here is a decision by Judge Trickey of Division 1 of the Washington Court of Appeals (who ran unopposed … Continue Reading

For the past few days I have thought about the phrase “conceived in liberty”. At first I thought it might have been used in the Declaration of Independence. I checked out that document. It was not there. Then I thought the phrase might be part of the pledge of allegiance. I checked. It wasn’t there. Finally, I googled the phrase “conceived in liberty”. Turns out it was used by Abraham Lincoln in the first line of the Gettysburg Address. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” In his next sentence Lincoln states: “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” Our country, so conceived and dedicated, survived the civil war. Unfortunately, it appears not to have survived the sociopaths in the Republican and Democratic parties, who continue to serve only the needs of those who can afford to make hefty campaign contributions. I went to DePauw University, a small liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana from 1967 until 1971. I remember back then discussing in a classroom why liberty, without the economic resources to exercise it, was not freedom at all. The example which we discussed so many years ago was that a person’s right to travel was meaningless if he could not afford to travel. While I mentally understood the … Continue Reading

I have urged in a previous blog that Washingtonians should consider whether our court system is well served when judicial elections are not competitive. See my January 19, 2015 blog . I want to make this point again here and in coming articles so that each of you can make an informed choice about whether to vote for or against a sitting judge. As many of you know I have practiced law since 1974. My Dad and paternal Grandfather were both lawyers. Although I have practiced in many areas of the law I now devote much of my present practice to foreclosure defense. But I also litigate “land use” issues generally; particularly with regard to Washington’s Land Use Petition Act a/k/a LUPA. Since 2006 the Washington Court of Appeals has held that citizens waive claims for violations of their federal constitutional rights if they do not file a LUPA appeal within 21 days. Although Washington’s Supreme Court has been asked on several occasions to weigh in on this restriction on Washingtonians ability to assert their federal constitutional rights, Washington’s Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to to do so. Last week in a case I was handling for a church which claimed its federal rights had been violated by a “land use” decision by the city of Maryville, a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington agreed with a previous ruling of the Chief Judge of the federal court’s Eastern district’s that longstanding Washington Court of Appeals precedent interpreting LUPA is contrary … Continue Reading

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I received the following email from Westlaw today. ////////@thomsonreuters.com 11:57 AM (22 minutes ago) to me Dear Scott, Here is the on-line version of the Knecht case now available on Westlaw. Please let me know if you need anything else! Search: Knecht v. Fidelity Nat. Title Ins. Co. W.D.Wash. February 27, 2015 Slip Copy 2015 WL 1514911 Thank you for using WestlawNext. Sincerely, ///////// . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reference Attorney Thomson Reuters Phone: 800-REF-ATTY (733-2889) I still wonder how often West chooses not to report cases based on the alliances of its corporate parent? For those of you who do not subscribe to West (which is likely a majority of those persons not involved in the legal/judicial/corporate complex) you can find a copy of this decision on Google scholar by clicking on this link. It is also interesting to note that West does not, as is its usual practice, identify the lawyers who represented the parties regarding this motion. Hmmm….

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For years I’ve had this picture of me wedged in between two bluestones of stonehenge hanging in the pantry above the freezer across from shelves stacked with food and boxes of clutter accumulated throughout my lifetime. The picture would have stayed there, but for a conversation with a younger friend which wandered on to the topic of Stonehenge, which we each had visited; albeit decades apart. He wasn’t even born when I crawled up the rocks… By the time Brian got there, the stones were roped off. I guess nowadays people don’t even get close enough to touch the stones. How fast the world has changed! How quickly our spirits fly through this realm of consciousness! I remember back to the fifties and fishing with my Dad and brother. The fish were bigger then and much more numerous. And when my father was a boy in Minnesota very few species of fish and animals were endangered. But progress takes its toll. So back to the photograph. I took the picture out of the pantry to Michaels art supply to have it reframed. It is now hung in my office POD. The POD is where I sleep when “all-nighters” are required to get our briefs written, filed, and served. Back in the years when the picture was taken my “all nighters” involved sleepless nights of study or party; depending on the circumstances of the day. I can’t nor do I want to forsake my sleep anymore. I never thought then that I would … Continue Reading

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This is an article about Democrat Senator Steve Hobbs of Lake Stevens. If my blog makes you want to contact him, please do so. Here is his information. Hobbs, Steve (D) 239 John A. Cherberg Building (360) 786-7686 Senator Hobbs is indebted to a rather slimeball special interest group. Nonjudicial trustees who make money when they can nonjudicially foreclose on homes. Senator Hobbs, a democrat, has sponsored Senate Bill 5968 which has been written by special interests is intended to undo what few protections the people of Washington have left against illegal foreclosures. His justification for doing so: to correct mistakes the legislature previously made to protect homeowners from his wealthy supporters unabashed greed. The bill will be considered in committee on Wednesday. This is a bill which should be killed now. Please contact Seantor Hobb and your own legislators to lead them no this bill is “bad news”!! But the story doesn’t begin with Senator Hobbs. It begins in 1889 when Washington’s Constitution was written. This article by Brian Snure, A FREQUENT RECURRENCE TO FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES: INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, FREE GOVERNMENT, AND THE WASHINGTON STATE CONSTITUTION helps me explain. It is worth reading and you can do so by touching the previous link. Snure’s article discusses the legislative corruption which gave rise to Washington’s Constitution and how our founders separated Washington’s government into one which contained structural checks on the legislature’s power to interfere with those rights the Supreme Ruler of the Universe gave every individual. Snure writes: I. THE HISTORICAL AND … Continue Reading

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Washington Senate Bill 5968, a bill proposed by special interests to make it easier for them to take your home without any responsibility for wrongful foreclosure, is scheduled for hearing next Wednesday at 1:30 before the Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee. Please attend. Unfortunately, it is all too likely this corrupt institution will give the banksters everything they want; notwithstanding our Constitution was intended to stop such special interest legislation. It is disheartening that such corruption flourishes in the state of Washington. Indeed, Washington’s Constitution was written so as to prohibit the Washington legislature from writing legislation to emasculate the superior courts’ subject matter jurisdiction in disputes involving the title and possession of land. Our constitution is written to protect individual rights from schemes like this by giving the superior courts enumerated, exclusive jurisdiction with regard to cases involving real property to the superior courts. But in one of the greatest mistakes ever made by Washington’s government, the court’s shirked off this responsibility; abdicating the protection of individual rights to the branch our founders always knew was the most corrupt. Washington’s citizens feared governmental tyranny, a tyranny they generally identified with the legislative branch. The settlers, who were primarily immigrants from other states, had extensive experience with and knowledge of legislative abuses.” In addition, Washington Territory itself experienced legislative abuses. In 1862-63, the legislature reportedly passed no general laws, but enacted more than 150 pieces of special legislation for the benefit of “private interests against the general welfare.” The … Continue Reading

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You know that judge who just gave that slime-ball servicer your house? Or the one who decided what was best for your kids after never knowing them? Or the one who decided you don’t get a day in court? How qualified were they to be making those decisions? When citizens are forced to interact with their government it is most often through the judiciary. Yet it is my experience that most of us know relatively little about the people who have been elected to judge us and construe our laws. It is a fair question to ask whether the the judge that is going to preside, or has presided, over your case was well equipped by nature and temperment to do so? Because of Washington’s peculiar laws judges generally do not run in the general November elections where our Federal and State legislative and executive candidates compete for office. Most judgeships are decided in a primary election, where far fewer voters turn out and those that do are mainly partisans supporting one of the traditional political parties’ legislative or executive candidates. Significantly, most judgeships are decided in the August or September primary, rather than at the more well attended November election because if no one runs against the judge, the sitting judge is automatically elected. If a judge gets more than 50% of the vote that judge is also automatically elected. As you will see, this gives judges incredible job security at a time when many of us have none. … Continue Reading

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It is understandable, although perhaps undesirable, that thousands of police officers go to New York to mourn the assassination of two of their own. The problem with their show of unity as a national interest group in today’s world is that it suggests these officers are separated from the local peoples they are expected to serve and protect. The open hostility of police against the mayor of New York for having previously criticized the use of an illegal choke hold which resulted in the death of a civilian, is and should be a grave concern to the vast majority of American citizens. This administration’s militarization of law enforcement in communities across the continent with weapons of war to be used against local people upon command betrays those covenants necessary for any legitimate claim to governance with the consent of the people. The Declaration of Independence documents a free peoples’ abhorrence of standing armies and mercenaries as a means of governance. Yet this appears to be the role our leaders have chosen for police. Although a biased media would have us believe that we are only dealing with issues of race; I think it more likely that the media is publicizing police violence (and immunity) as a way to let us all know we will not be free (or possibly even alive) if we do not acquiesce to their will or whim. Surely, both the police and their superiors must know that at some point immunity from injustice will be seen … Continue Reading

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I had not expected when I was younger that some day I would be the oldest guy left working in an office of lawyers. Nor did I expect that this mere happenstance would force me to evaluate the wisdom, if any, I had accumulated over the soon to be sixty six years of my existence. I remember speaking with one of the young lawyers who works with me shortly after he was hired in the Spring of 2014. He told me he did not believe in “good and evil.” Given the area of law we work in this surprised me until I remembered back to when I was his age — mid twenties. I, too, back then was reluctant to define “evil” and give it a face. When I was younger I avoided having to confront the concept of evil by believing in the basic goodness which I thought, without the evidence of much experience, was “lowest common denominator” of beliefs upon which all humans, no matter our various races or cultures, could agree upon. I thought humanity’s appreciation for the sanctity of human life, the opportunity to love, and the the absence of cruelty were things we as a species could agree upon. Over time, both through my study of history and the observations of my lifetime I have come to the conclusion that evil does exist in this world and that it is imperative that it be recognized and called out. The young lawyer and I did not … Continue Reading

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When I was younger I thought Thanksgiving was about being grateful for the things and people in my life. Today, at 65, I am still grateful for those things, but I most appreciate the “purpose” which now drives my life. I give thanks to God for leading me here; rather than to wealth and possessions. It should be obvious to all that 2014 has not been a good year for many people. While banks and corporations flourish, many of our neighbors go hungry and have become homeless. For way too many, 2014 has not been fun or full of abundance. This does not mean that Thanksgiving has lost its relevance. Last night I was chatting with a friend online. She explained that as a result of cancer treatments she was experiencing excruciating leg pain. I responded: I am sorry to hear you are not feeling well. I hope things improve soon. On TV tonight they talked about Justice Ginsburg and said she pulled an all-nighter writing a dissenting opinion. Living life is not always fun, but is always a great gift. She wrote back: “I agree … life is a gift. Have a great Thanksgiving and thank you for the chat.” The greatest gift life bestows is not possessions or happiness or people. It is consciousness. Being awake; being alive; being able to feel. I know from my own life that sometimes consciousness can hurt as a result of depression or pain to the point where it seems an anchor, … Continue Reading

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I am thankful for those lies which illuminate the truth. I am grateful the evil which makes good evident. I am thankful for the age which makes sense of youth. I am grateful for those struggles, which reveal our purpose. I’m almost 66 years old now. I never truly contemplated the wisdom humans can acquire from age. A human grows from a single being, aware primarily of its own needs and wants, to a realization that we are a part of a greater whole, which also has it owns needs and aspires to a higher actualization. Too few of us understand that “aging” itself (much more than classrooms where young people instruct other young people) is the actual mechanism by which God intends we learn our collective “purpose.” While money may be for the unenlightened few the purpose to which they aspire, far more of us know that money can not be a purpose of our planet or the universe for it is not produced by God. I am blessed by being able to work with people who teach me new things every day; who remind me of beliefs which I once was certain were true; who restore my belief that humankind can evolve into a greater consciousness that understand that consciousness is the very essence of life. My purpose now, at almost 66 years of age in 2014, is to explain why we should no longer base our world on the notion humankind cannot progress without money incentivizing evolution … Continue Reading

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The Washington Supreme Court has held the legislature in “contempt” for not complying with its decision in McCleary v State ordering the legislature to provide “ample funding” for the common schools. Michelle Darnell, a mother of three and a candidate for the Washington Senate in District 48 (the Bellevue area) calls the wrangling between the Court and the Legislature with regard to this matter “insanity”. She is right. It is my judgment, the Supreme Court is acting beyond its competence and authority in attempting to dictate school funding. The legislature would be well advised to call the Court’s bluff as the McCleary decision is poorly reasoned and attempts to give the judicial department final say with regard to our political process. Indeed, McCleary borders on being nonsensical when it is considered that a substantial number of the children within Washington’s borders are homeless and starving. They likely will not benefit from increasing the more than $12,000 per student which is already being spent on education. Indeed, many believe that it is only the corporations which are vying for these funds which will ultimately be benefitted. My experiences in the trenches on behalf of parents focuses my perspective. A few years ago the Seattle School Board closed a number of schools (some of which they subsequently opened at great cost) and assigned students to new schools. In a series of cases challenging these decisions I learned the school board’s process for making decisions was costly and unconstitutional. The Courts did not … Continue Reading

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I worked on preparing a couple briefs this weekend. One of them dealt with article I, section 12 of the Washington Constitution. This Constitution provisions states: “No law shall be passed granting to any citizen, class of citizens, or corporation other than municipal, privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens, or corporations.” Article I, section 12 of Washington’s constitution is different than the “special privileges and immunities” clause of the United States Constitution (and most State constitutions) because one of its purposes is protect Washington citizens from our state government providing special privileges and immunities to corporations. Its purpose, as a part of Washington’s Declaration of Rights, was to prevent all three branches of government from corruptly affording corporations and private persons special privileges and immunities which infringed on those citizens rights grounded in Washington’s Constitution. So as I was saying when I write my briefs I have to do research to document the assertions I make to the courts. At least that is what I was taught to do back in the early nineteen seventies. Oftentimes, however, I am not sure the courts consider these citations much as the superior courts now routinely refuse to provide any reasoning for their judgments and our courts of appeal decide over fifty per cent of their by way of non-precedential rulings. But getting back to the point, I was doing what I was taught to do, i.e. researching Article 1, section 12, when I came … Continue Reading

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His friends called him Jimmie. As he sat down, gun in hand, his feelings were chaos. Anger, emptiness, sadness, shame. He raised his head; glanced at the sky then back to the crumpled foreclosure notice dropped beside him. Then he looked at the gun he held aimed at his face. For a moment he strained to look inside its barrel. A tear rolled slowly down his face. Jimmie knew he was about to break down in tears. He didn’t want that. He needed courage. So he quickly pulled the trigger and the bullet tore through his face ending his life because of he felt the shame of an illegal foreclosure. Even before his wife and three children held the memorial service, the servicer initiating the foreclosure cancelled the sale. Not out of any sympathy for the wife and children but to stop the family from filing any claim against the lending industry claiming the obviously illegal foreclosure proceedings were a proximate cause of Jimmie’s suicide. In almost every other area, people and business entities are liable for the damages their negligent or intentional conduct foreseeable causes others. In the past the Courts have provided an exception for the government; now they have extended the same immunity to the wealthy. It is a sad day for Washington. Doesn’t it make sense that our courts would want to ensure those claiming to own peoples’ homes as security perform nonjudicial foreclosures consistent with Washington law each time that industry attempts to take a … Continue Reading

For most of our history lawyers have thought of themselves as the unofficial fourth “arm” of the government. Hurst, pp. 598-601. This view is more understandable from lawyers’ past role as “trial advocates”; than from the present relationship between the bench and bar, which reduces the significance lawyers have with regard to the administration of justice. Under the law in effect in most colonies at the time our Constitution was written, lawyers were advocates who had the right to argue the merits of their client’s cases directly to a jury. Juries, not judges, had the right to decide most cases as they saw fit both with regard to the facts and law. “In 1789, juries occupied the principal place in the administration of justice. They were frequently in both criminal and civil cases the arbiters not only of fact but of law.” Galloway, at 399. The King’s denial of the right to a trial by jury was one of the reasons stated by the colonists in the Declaration of Independence justifying separation from England.

I live on a mountaintop about an hour away from Seattle. I got out of bed instantly upon waking Friday morning, which occurred almost a half hour before my alarm was scheduled to sound. I immediately showered and put on the suit I had picked out the night before to wear during oral argument at 10:00 a.m.. It was not even 7:00 a.m. and I found myself fully groomed. I thought about whether I should just hang around for a while or leave. “Better early, than late,” I reasoned and drove down the winding gravel road and out the gate. To my surprise, there were hardly any cars until just before the city limits. I got to the Courthouse about 8:30 a.m. and hung out in the law library. I knew I was going to lose this summary judgment motion. Judge Linde had already dismissed my clients claims that the other defendants had not complied with Washington statutes while pursuing nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings. She had done this without affording my client (a borrower who simply wanted to insure he paid off the mortgage loan to the correct party) any opportunity to obtain discovery consistent with our court rules. This discovery ruling, holding a borrower was not entitled to discovery if s/he had knowledgeable foreclosure lawyer, was a “first”; not only in Washington, but the United States. Up until Judge Linde’s discovery rulings, all litigants in Washington had the right to obtain pre-trial discovery consistent with the rules. Why borrowers facing the financial … Continue Reading

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It seems more than happenstance that I became aware of Bill Burke’s passing in time to attend his memorial this morning. Bill was William T. Burke and Professor William T. Burke and his school of Law and Marine Affairs at the University of Washington is the primary reason I wound up here in Washington State. Bill was a good friend, teacher, and mentor to many of his students, including me. The high regard for him and his family filled the University’s Urban Horticultural Center this morning. I was moved by the photos of him as he passed through his life. Our shared humanity is illuminated by the stages we all go through. It seemed that anyone who got to know Bill got to know him well. His humor was infectious. His passions numerous. His intellect was staggering. It is not an understatement to report that William T. Burke is one of the giants among those who have brought order to the oceans and been instrumental in the development of the law of the sea. As I drove to his memorial I thought about what Bill Burke had done with his life; he had contemplated and helped to initiate a new world order. He was proof that change can result from the passions of good people. His passing is eclipsed by his life and his work, which will continue to make a difference. #williamtburke #lawofthesea #universityofwashingtonlawandmarineaffairs

Even after the Revolutionary War started most colonists were not in favor of declaring complete independence from Great Britain. Notwithstanding initial battles with the British, most colonists believed some sort of governmental relationship with Great Britain was necessary for commerce and the social order. Public opinion changed in this regard only after King George III overreacted and ordered the Royal military to “crush” the colonists. It was only after British tyranny trampled on more of the Colonists that the people united to declare their independence. Most Americans today sense that something is terribly wrong in their country. Many want to blame each other; the “deadbeat debtor”; the homeless, the immigrants. The bickering goes on and on, while the banks through the governmental officials they own (or control) evict people from their homes producing waves of homeless refugees who seek to survive on our streets. The banks and the government the banks control tell us its getting better. It is not. It is getting worse. And tragically, maybe that will turn out to be a good thing historically. Because as the bankers take more homes; enslave more students; and violate more laws with impunity the tyranny which has become America will appear so evil that we, the people, will not tolerate the problem any longer. The problem is “money”. As the world has evolved what was once envisioned as a “medium of exchange” convenient for facilitating the exchange of labor and goods has become a commodity manipulated by sociopaths. Nowadays the manipulation of … Continue Reading

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Larry’s birthday is over. I am still reflecting on my recent intuition that the “American Dream” has usually been more about “money” than “liberty”. There is a part of me that sincerely wants this observation not to be true. My own experience teaches that I must constantly reexamine my perceptions. For example, as a young man in the late sixties I wrote a thesis (which I still have stored away someplace) on why the federal government was better at protecting people’s rights than were state governments. While I think this observation might have been true at that time (during the Warren Court era), it certainly is wrong today. In the nineteen eighties and nineties state supreme courts began interpreting state constitutions in ways that frequently afforded greater protection of constitutional rights than Rehnquist and later Courts found were intended by the framers of the United States Constitution. Looking back, it is apparent why my hypothesis that the federal government would better protect citizen rights was proved wrong. The original seven articles of the United States Constitution seek to preserve liberties through a structure of checks and balances placed on the exercise of governmental power. As previously discussed in this blog these included a.) the separation of powers in the federal government; b.) a federalist government composed of dual and competing sovereigns; and by later amendment c.) oversight of the exercise of governmental powers by juries composed of citizens. The Declaration of Independence authored in 1776 proclaims all men have rights: … Continue Reading

Does the Separation of Powers continue to provide the checks and balances contemplated by our founders so as to protect this nation’s citizens from the federal government’s abuse of power? Are the powers of the federal government still separated? Has each branch of government simply been purchased by the wealthy, causing the branches to act together in a way our founding fathers would have found to be unacceptable? The Webster-Merriam Dictionary defines the verb “corrupt” to mean: : to cause (someone or something) to become dishonest, immoral, etc. : to change (something) so that it is less pure or valuable : to change (a book, computer file, etc.) from the correct or original form I read an interesting article sent to me by my law partner, Josh Trumbull. It is written by Y. Falkson and was posted on the zerohedge.com web site. It is titled “The Purchase of our Republic” The author suggests that each of the branches of our government has been purchased in such a way that the owners can orchestrate an abuse of federal governmental power to the detriment of the people. In my view, the government’s support of entities like Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, federal banks and servicers routine evictions of persons from their homes is an example of this abuse of power. Falkson makes his point and utilizes Constitutional history to support it: Acknowledging where we are as a country, it is often helpful to look to where we started for some perspective. Unsurprisingly, this type … Continue Reading

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Has the Supreme Court corrupted American homeowners right to a jury trial against lenders and servicers in federal courts? The Webster-Merriam Dictionary defines the verb “corrupt” to mean: : to cause (someone or something) to become dishonest, immoral, etc. : to change (something) so that it is less pure or valuable : to change (a book, computer file, etc.) from the correct or original form When I grew up in Iowa in the mid twentieth century we learned in high school “civics” class that our freedoms were preserved through a number of Constitutional checks and balances designed to protect the people from the arbitrary exercise of governmental power. Two of the most basic checks on governmental power, i.e. “the separation of powers” in and “dual sovereignty” nature of our government, are derived directly from the governmental framework established by the Constitution. Shortly after it was ratified, the Constitution was amended by ratification of ten amendments, which are known as the Bill of Rights. The right to a jury of one’s peers was one of the basic structural provisions our founders enacted pursuant to the Bill of Rights. The Fifth Amendment grants the right to trial by jury in criminal cases. The Seventh Amendment grants the right to trial by jury in civil cases.